Lobbyists in McCain Land Deal Have Close Ties to Senator, Post Reports

The Washington Post’s story this morning about a land deal supported by John McCain that benefits his donors, bundlers and staffers illustrates how furiously Washington’s revolving door spins. It’s enough to make even a senator dizzy. The Post reported, “Sen. John McCain championed legislation that will let an Arizona rancher trade remote grassland and ponderosa pine forest [in Prescott, Ariz.] for acres of valuable federally owned property that is ready for development, a land swap that now stands to directly benefit one of his top presidential campaign fundraisers.”

Here’s Capital Eye’s breakdown of the major players involved with the deal, their spin through the revolving door and their financial connection to the GOP’s presidential nominee:

The real estate deal, which went through because of one of a McCain-sponsored bill in 2005, involved the Yavapai Ranch Limited Partnership and rancher Fred Ruskin. Ruskin has never made any contributions to the Arizona senator, it appears, but he has been a generous financial supporter of the Republican Party. Since the 1994 election cycle, he and his wife, Mary, have donated at least $31,200 to federal candidates, parties and committees, 97 percent of which went to Republicans. In trying to get his land deal through Congress, Ruskin brought in the big guns–lobbyists who knew McCain’s politics intimately.

One of those lobbyists was Wes Gullett, McCain’s 1992 Senate campaign manger and former administrative assistant (in Washington, a far more powerful title than it sounds). Gullett and his wife, Deborah, have given at least $50,400 to federal candidates, parties and committees since 1991, 83 percent to Republicans. They’ve given $4,600 to McCain this cycle and a total of $9,550 since 1997. They have also bundled more than $100,000 for McCain’s presidential bid, according to the Washington Post. Gullett currently works at Hamilton, Gullett, et al, an Arizona-based lobbying firm that listed medical research, defense and education as the issues it lobbied last year. His firm billed clients in Washington a total of $240,000 for federal lobbying last year.

Kurt Davis, Gullett’s business partner, is also a bundler for McCain’s presidential campaign and a member of his state leadership team. Davis was charged with the task of working with local officials as the land deal was being pushed, the Post said. Davis has contributed $3,300 to McCain since 2003, $2,300 of which has gone to his presidential bid. In total, Davis has given $31,800 to federal candidates, parties and committees, 79 percent to Republicans.

Another of the ranch’s lobbyists was Michael Jimenez, also a former McCain staffer. Now a Washington lobbyist, Jimenez has given a total of $850 to John McCain since 1997, though he hasn’t contributed any money to him since the 2000 election cycle. In total Jimenez has given $17,700 to federal parties, committees and candidates, with 65 percent of that going to Republicans. Jimenez currently works at Strategic Impact, which listed lobbying on issues related to natural resources, appropriations, energy and the environment. Strategic Impact made at least $310,000 lobbying last year.

According to the Post article, although the Yavapai Ranch Limited Partnership is not listed on his federal lobbying records, Mark Buse was hired to work for Ruskin. Buse, a former advisor to McCain on the Senate Commerce Committee, most recently worked as a lobbyist at ML Strategies but left to serve as McCain’s Senate chief of staff. Buse has given McCain $2,000 in contributions since 1999 but hasn’t contributed to his presidential campaign. He has given a total of $10,750 to all federal candidates, parties and committees since 2001, all of which has gone to Republicans. ML Strategies has lobbied on issues related to appropriations, taxes, health, defense and transportation, among others and collected $3.2 million in income in 2007.

Steven Betts is the owner of SunCorp Development, a firm that won the job of building as many as 12,000 homes on Ruskin’s acquired property. Betts is a longtime McCain supporter, having given him $6,800 since 1991. According to the Washington Post, as a bundler Betts has raised more than $100,000 for McCain’s presidential bid. Employees of SunCorp’s parent company, Pinnacle West, have given McCain $128,500 this cycle.

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